Europe and the Middle East’s demand for butadiene has steadily been increasing over the last decade, primarily led by advanced countries from Western Europe, such as Germany and France. However, the large populations and growing economies of countries like Russia and other nations of Eastern Europe mean that they also have huge consumption potential.

Europe’s demand has historically overshadowed that of the Middle East, and this trend is expected to continue in the future, with the European region predicted to account for more than 90% of Europe and the Middle East’s butadiene demand in 2020. New downstream plants are also due to come online in Iran and Saudi Arabia in the near future, and this is expected to reduce the proportion of butadiene demand from Western Europe in the forecast period. However, Europe’s butadiene exports will still grow, due to strong demand from the US, which is increasingly becoming a strong market for European butadiene exports.

The newfound love for shale gas in the US is leaving their petrochemicals industry in the dark, as crude oil feedstock for butadiene production goes out of vogue, and Europe is reaping the benefits. The US is starting to increase its use of shale gas as an energy source instead of crude oil, and since shale gas contains less C4 hydrocarbons (which when cracked produce butadiene), the US is experiencing an increasing shortage of locally produced petrochemical. As a result, local butadiene consumers are increasingly relying on foreign imports. The European butadiene market has not been experiencing very healthy growth, due to waning local demand, and so the increased butadiene demand from US consumers presents a readily available market for European producers. As the situation stands, European butadiene producers are going to be a major source of supply to North America in future.

More information can be found in the report “Butadiene Europe and Middle East Market to 2020 - North American Supply Shortages to Drive European Exports” by GBI Research.